What happened is the gig economy inserted a middleman (DoorDash, Uber Eats, etc.) between the restaurant and customer. These platforms take a 20–30% cut, charge customer fees, and still often lose money.
Meanwhile, drivers—now independent contractors—get no hourly wage, no benefits, and absorb all costs (gas, car, downtime). Tech didn’t increase efficiency for workers—it added a VC-funded layer that extracts value.
So despite more demand and better tools, drivers earn the same (or less) in nominal terms, and much less after inflation.
Meanwhile, drivers—now independent contractors—get no hourly wage, no benefits, and absorb all costs (gas, car, downtime). Tech didn’t increase efficiency for workers—it added a VC-funded layer that extracts value.
So despite more demand and better tools, drivers earn the same (or less) in nominal terms, and much less after inflation.